EPA FINDS NO HEALTH THREAT IN LOCKPORT

When torrential rains wreaked havoc in the suburbs last summer, many residents on Lockport's west side found an oily muck coating their homes and yards, staining leaves, trees and basements.

The people affected immediately wanted to know if the black substance, which some residents suspect came from a nearby Texaco refinery, posed any environmental risks?

On Thursday, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials, who tested 12 Lockport sites in November, said tests showed the levels of contaminants found in soil samples are below levels of health concern, said spokesman John Perrecone.

"There's no health risk at all," he said.

But members of a local environmental group called CARE, Citizens Against Ruining the Environment, dismissed the results, saying federal standards are more lax than the state standards.

"They say it's completely safe, but that's not true," said Mark Wiltgen, a Lockport resident and CARE member who expressed concerns over the levels of arsenic and barium found in the soil samples that he said were above some state standards.

Perrecone said he could not compare federal and state EPA standards, but stood by the conclusion that the levels are safe.

"We don't see a need to do a major cleanup in the community," he said.

As one example, he pointed out that the highest levels of lead were detected below the 9th Street Bridge, a densely weeded and lightly traveled area. Tests revealed 455 parts of lead per million parts of soil, but exposures of less than 500 do not generally result in adverse health effects in children, EPA officials said.

That area likely had the highest concentration of lead because of the level of traffic over the bridge, Perrecone said. Lead can be left by deposits from the burning of leaded gasoline, he explained.

Residents also had raised questions about contamination of the air, ground and water because the community relies on well water.

One resident, Pat Haas, said she was satisfied with the test results.

"It's going to be safe to live here. We can have a garden," said Haas, 46, who has lived in Lockport 27 years. "This gives me some peace of mind."

Lockport Mayor Richard Dystrup also said he was pleased to receive the results. "On the surface, it seems there is nothing to be alarmed about," he said.

Texaco officials have denied the oily muck came from their site, but they compensated some residents for cleanup costs after they signed a waiver.

The test results released Thursday, which focus on areas outside the refinery, do not answer questions about the Texaco site itself, where a visual inspection and three soil samples were screened by the Illinois EPA in December.

The U.S. EPA has no plans to go back to the site, but Illinois EPA officials agree a comprehensive investigation of the facility is needed, an idea that Dystrup also supports. The mayor said he will pass on the report received Thursday to the special counsel in the Will County state's attorney's office that is working with Lockport on environmental issues surrounding Texaco.

Mara McGinnis, a public involvement coordinator in Springfield, said the Illinois EPA does not have the resources to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the Texaco site.

Texaco could eventually conduct such an investigation to be in compliance with state permits, depending on the resolution of an appeal of some terms for those permits, which were issued in 1993.

Both Texaco and the Illinois EPA said they hope to resolve the permit issue soon. And Texaco spokesman Gary Miller said the firm would complete the needed testing if required to do so.

"We would do that. That's the law," Miller said.

Miller also emphasized that no problems were identified during the December visit by the Illinois EPA.

"We don't have a sub-surface contamination issue," Miller said.

Most of the operating units at the Texaco refinery site are shut down, but there are still operating units used by Texaco clients. There also are five closed hazardous waste units.

Texaco officials said there are plans to clean up the site near Lockport, where many rusted tanks dot the old refinery site. Last year, about 12 tanks, a heating unit, a stretch of pipeline and a processing unit were removed, Miller said.

They plan to landscape the site in 1997. About a dozen tanks will remain, however, as part of a pipeline operation used by Texaco clients.